A CENTURY by Ian Blackwell left Warwickshire on the back foot after the first day of their championship match against Durham at Edgbaston.

After the champions chose to bat, the Bears responded with their best bowling in four-day cricket so far this season.

Chris Woakes took the first three wickets in an impressive spell of swing bowling and when Durham stumbled to 120 for four in the 50th over, their plan to pile up a big total before exploiting a turning pitch looked to be going awry.

But after putting in much good work in the first two sessions, Warwickshire tired in the third as Blackwell added 86 in 23 overs with Phil Mustard and 98 in 21 overs with Gareth Breese.

Blackwell remained unbeaten at the close on 107 (158 balls, 13 fours and a six) and Durham will hope that he and Breese also have a big part to play with the ball.

The latter was drafted in as a second spinner as soon as the visitors clocked a pitch prepared to encourage the slower bowlers. With the ball turning from day one, this was a good toss for Durham to win.

They were fortunate to reach 95 for one at lunch. After Mark Stoneman retired hurt with a pulled thigh muscle only captain Will Smith was dismissed in the first session but there was plenty of playing and missing at Woakes, who dismissed Smith with a fine inswinger, and also against Boyd Rankin and Neil Carter.

Woakes summoned up the wicket-taking balls. After lunch he won another two lbw shouts to oust Michael Di Venuto and Gordon Muchall when both were well set – and for seven tantalising overs he was on for a historic all-ten, all-lbw.

Carter scuppered that prospect when he had Dale Benkenstein caught at mid-wicket. That left Durham in serious need of shoring up.

Blackwell and Mustard, attacking players by nature, knuckled down against demanding bowling, not least by Jeetan Patel who deserved more than one wicket.

Patel suffered, as the Bears bowlers tend to do this season, from fallible fielding. Four chances were missed, most expensively, two in the slip cordon from Breese, on 21 and 26, off successive overs by Rankin and Woakes.

By the time Jim Troughton showed how it should be done with a brilliant catch at deep mid-wicket to oust Breese, the day had got away from the Bears.